US to boost troops at Romania airbase increasing NATO’s military presence in Eastern Europe

US has asked to boost the number of troops and aircraft stationed at an airbase in NATO ally, Romania, President Traian Basescu said. The request would add up to 600 US troops to the roughly 1,000 currently stationed in Romania, and would increase the number of military aircraft there, Reuters reports.

Washington has used the Mihail Kogalniceanu air base on the Black Sea in eastern Romania, not far from the Crimea peninsula, since 1999.

According to the source, this move is part of NATO’s efforts to increase its military presence in Eastern Europe.